JILL PAINTER: No easy solutions for aging, ailing Lakers

Buckle up. The offseason could be even more dramatic than this past season gone wrong.

There should be no pleasure taken that this season is finally over, because it could get uglier, with the front office staring at an aging, expensive roster. Hard to imagine this is the fate for a franchise that has won 16 NBA championships.

The Lakers lost in horrid fashion Sunday after they were swept in four games by the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA's Western Conference first-round playoffs. Injuries, namely to star Kobe Bryant and starters Steve Blake, Steve Nash and Metta World Peace, decimated the team. However, the Lakers were blown out - an unthinkable end to one of the league's most storied and decorated franchises.

On Tuesday, the Lakers packed up for the summer, finishing their exit interviews. Expect drama and uncertainty to follow.

The Lakers want to re-sign Dwight Howard, but is the love mutual? Will Mike D'Antoni be back as coach, or could the front office change its mind? How will Bryant heal from a devastating injury and when will he return?

And what will happen with Pau Gasol, who's likely gone if Howard returns?

The Lakers want Howard, a free agent, back and Bryant said he does too. Howard would receive a five-year, $118 million deal if he remains with the Lakers. Howard has given no indication if he wants to return, and already, it seems he will drag this out.

"I'm just going to get away," Howard said. "I don't think I should get pressured by anybody to make a decision. This decision is for myself and myself only."

Howard walked off the Staples Center court in embarrassing fashion after he was assessed two technical fouls and was ejected early in the third quarter in Sunday's loss, leaving the Lakers in a bind.

The center could add one more obstacle to this franchise. If Howard waits too long to make a decision - and Gasol's future surely rests with Howard's - the Lakers could play catch-up in trying to put together a competitive team.

"Obviously, I'm hopeful and optimistic," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. "... I think (Howard) understands the sooner he makes a decision the better it is for everybody. I don't know if that means a week, a month or seven weeks."

Bryant, who had the stitches taken out of his recently repaired Achilles tendon, believes he'll be ready for the start of the regular season. Whether that comes to fruition - and what type of player he will be once he returns - remains to be seen.

He's still a major player when it comes to his opinion on who his teammates should be.

"All I can do is voice my opinion on what should be done, but I'm not the one that has to cut the check," Bryant said. "I give my 2 cents and go from there."

He flexed his vocal cords Tuesday, telling Kupchak and D'Antoni that he wanted forward Gasol and center Howard to return. But with the new NBA luxury tax, in which teams are levied hefty fines for going over the salary cap, that's not likely to happen.

D'Antoni will remain the Lakers coach - or will he? Kupchak confirmed nothing has changed from his comments two weeks ago, when he said D'Antoni would return as Lakers coach for the 2013-14 season.

D'Antoni took over for the fired Mike Brown early in the season but was a slow learner to figure out the old, slow Lakers couldn't fit into his uptempo system.

D'Antoni tweaked the system, but it happened so late that the Lakers (45-37) didn't have enough time to adjust on their way to barely making the playoffs.

He believes the Lakers should still contend for an NBA crown, but that could be lofty expectation.

But he must get used to it. Lakers fans are used to nothing less.

"I think championships should be the expectation," D'Antoni said. "As a matter of fact, I would think 30 teams are talking championships in September. They should. Why not? Realistically, we have enough talent if everything remains the same or whatever tweaks Mitch and the organization make. We should have (enough) to win a championship."

And enough drama to get through what promises to be a tumultuous offseason in Los Angeles.